When news broke that the Houston Texans had traded first-team All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday, Twitter went frantic.
Players, media and fans alike struggled to wrap their minds around the fact the Texans would trade a receiver, who earned first-team All-Pro honors each of the last three seasons, for former Cardinals running back David Johnson.
The 27-year-old Hopkins has had five years of 1,100-plus receiving yards including two 1,500-plus receiving yard seasons. He’s arguably the best receiver in the NFL.
Johnson, on the other hand, is a different story. While certainly not a bad backfield option, the 28-year-old played 13 games in 2019 (nine starts) and rushed for 345 yards and two touchdowns.
The transaction certainly prompted some harsh words directed at the Texans.
Here’s some reaction from the Cardinals players:
HAHAHAHHAHA BAFOONS??? https://t.co/ZXp3WmRmSs
— Chase Edmonds (@ChaseEdmonds22) March 16, 2020
BEST NEWS IN 2020!!! ? https://t.co/DavHtDokli
— â™›Chandler Jones (@chanjones55) March 16, 2020
Here’s the reaction from Texans wideout Kenny Stills:
— Kenny Stills (@KSTiLLS) March 16, 2020
And then there’s this interesting response from the agent of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson:
Hmm…
— David Mulugheta (@DavidMulugheta) March 16, 2020
Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard appears happy he’ll no longer have to go against Hopkins twice a year in the AFC South:
— Kevin Byard (@KB31_Era) March 16, 2020
Of course, the fans (and media) weighed in as well:
I love how Bill O’Brien used the slowest sports news cycle ever to trade DeAndre Hopkins and successfully piledrive his own approval rating into the Earth’s core
— Pablo S. Torre (@PabloTorre) March 16, 2020
David Johnson for DeAndre Hopkins would get vetoed in most fantasy leagues with the team managers barred for life.
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) March 16, 2020
Deandre Hopkins is 27 and the Cardinals just got him with 3 years left on his contract for 12.5M, 13.5M and 13.9M at the cost of a cooked RB who was eating their cap space and a 2nd rd pick. Maybe the best WR in the NFL.
This can't be real
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) March 16, 2020
honestly if Bill O’Brien would have called me offering DeAndre Hopkins for David Johnson I would have assumed it was a prank and hung up so credit to Steve Keim for having faith and keeping the line open https://t.co/iV2sauD7TZ
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) March 16, 2020
Willing to be proven wrong.
Initial impression: Texans got fleeced. https://t.co/62oZIPrBeL
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) March 16, 2020
We’ll go ahead and chalk it up as not well-received.
